Former Oyo State Commissioner for Justice, Adebayo Mutalubi Ojo, has said many people currently praising Governor Seyi Makinde will eventually abandon him as the 2027 general elections approach.

Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), predicted that by December 2026, many of Makinde’s supporters would openly oppose his anointed governorship candidate, Bimbo Adekanmbi.

He made the assertion while speaking on the latest edition of *OpenForum360*, a political podcast in Ibadan.

The former commissioner said Makinde’s popularity remained his greatest strength and political asset but could also become his “greatest albatross”.

He argued that Adekanmbi would inherit both Makinde’s political goodwill and his enemies because the two were “Siamese twins”.

According to him, the situation could have been different if Makinde had allowed his party’s governorship candidate to emerge through transparent, free and fair primaries.

Ojo said many politicians currently aligned with Makinde were merely pretending to support him and were waiting for the right time to leave.

“Believe me, by December, you will see what will happen. Most of them will leave him. And they will come out to oppose his candidate openly,” he said.

He contrasted the situation with the crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC), where, according to him, aggrieved members had been more vocal about their grievances.

He cited the APC reconciliation committee led by Senator Femi Lanlehin and mentioned former minister Adebayo Adelabu and Senator Buhari as politicians whose positions were being closely watched.

Ojo said only a few politicians within the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the government had openly expressed their grievances, naming Comrade Bayo Titilola-Sodo, Hon. Babs Oduyoye and former police commissioner Fatai Owoseni.

He said some politicians would continue to publicly support Makinde and his preferred candidate despite their private reservations, but would eventually abandon them.

The former commissioner cited the experience of some politicians in Osun State who, according to him, remained with the APC despite their reservations, only for the party to suffer electoral setbacks.

Ojo, however, described Adekanmbi as “my good brother and my friend”, while insisting that many people around him were misleading him about the political realities on the ground.

“I can’t be mentioning names. I know them. I know you know what is happening. They are deceiving him. There are a lot of intrigues in politics. It’s not a straightforward enterprise,” he said. (The Nation)